October 19, 2026
Eric Hartline/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Flyers finally have a win to build on.
Saturday night's game puck wasn't for anyone on the roster.
Rick Tocchet walked into the press room at Xfinity Mobile Arena, after the Flyers had finally won 3-1 over the visiting Ottawa Senators, and with the puck in his hand, he tossed it over to Jason Myrtetus at the back of the room before starting his postgame conference.
"What a speech today," Tocchet said.
"Told ya I still have hands," Myrtetus quipped as he caught the puck with his fingertips.
Myrtetus, a lifetime goalie and longtime Flyers broadcast personality, addressed the team at Tocchet's invitation following their morning skate on Saturday and amid a franchise worst 0-6-3 start that felt like it was never going to end.
It's been bad for the Flyers, absolutely, but never a reason to stop fighting.
Myrtetus, who has been publicly battling colorectal cancer, gave a speech that put that into perspective.
"It's a different level," Tocchet said. "But still, talking to Jason, there's a message there...
"And I just felt after he left, there was a little bit of a pause or like [a] silence as guys were getting dressed. You could tell it was a message to the guys like, 'Hey, you should be happy. We're in the NHL, we're playing a game.' We're asking for effort. This guy's going through stuff that.. I can't imagine what you're going through."
The @nhlflyers players had a very special visitor after morning skate today. At the invitation of Rick Tocchet, @jasonmyrt addresses the team.
— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) October 17, 2026
He discussed his 30-minute philosophy. Set a timer. Take thirty mins to make a decision: give in or fight on.
It never takes the… pic.twitter.com/4esfykv0ay
Both Myrtetus and Tocchet elected to keep what was said in the room amongst themselves and the players, but the impact from it was immediately visible: The Flyers turned in easily their best effort of the season and, finally, got that first win, all as Myrtetus kept up with his usual game day duties, despite his own massive battle.
Myrtetus was also the first to receive the Flyers' own internal player of the game prop after a win, through team captain Sean Couturier, now that everyone could also finally see what it was. They're orange boxing gloves in a nod to the 50th anniversary of "Rocky."
"A Philly legend, a fighter, underdog story," Couturier said in the clip released by the Flyers, and fitting as he handed them to Myrtetus to put on.
A fighter through and through.@jasonmyrt | @IBX pic.twitter.com/BhRncETIXj
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 18, 2026
There's a lot for the Flyers to still fight through, including a growing list of injuries and the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche, who are visiting Monday night.
But they have to keep fighting, because Myrtetus still is, and it isn't an option to stop.
Tocchet was asked if Myrtetus has to come back to give a speech before every game now, though.
"He's gonna be head coach now," Tocchet cracked. "Some people will be happy."
MORE: Matvei Michkov skated to win. This time, finally, the Flyers did.
A couple other quick thoughts on the Flyers...
The Flyers called up big defenseman Hunter McDonald from the Phantoms on Sunday night, and sent fellow blueliner Helge Grans and checking forward Jack Studnicka back to Lehigh Valley, while putting Cam York on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 8
Monday morning, the Flyers made another call to bring up forwards Cole Knuble and Alex Bump, in the wake of Tyson Foerster blocking a shot off his right wrist that left him favoring it for the rest of Saturday night, while also learning that Couturier got banged up, too.
Knuble and Bump are expected to play Monday night against Colorado, and McDonald's "a possibility," per Tocchet on Monday morning.
Knuble probably should've made the team out of camp since he was their most effective forward through the preseason, but he ultimately lost out on a numbers game.
He's here now, though, and if he can carry that sample size over, he should be an effective and dependable checking forward for the bottom half of the Flyers' lineup, and a time when they've been sorely missing it through their early-season spiral.
Bump did make the team, but was quickly sent down after three games and a struggle out of the gate. He's since scored seven goals through five games with the Phantoms, which included back-to-back two-goal efforts against Springfield through the weekend.
ALEX BUMP CAN NOT BE STOPPED🔥🔥🔥#LVvsSPR | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/dMnujxnyDm
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) October 17, 2026
Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone connected for the Flyers' deciding two goals on Saturday night, and both clearly looked like their best players, which is huge out of the 21- and 19-year olds that the organization obviously has a lot of stock in.
PORTER MARTONE‼️
— NHL (@NHL) October 18, 2026
He makes it a tie game off a nifty feed from Matvei Michkov! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/P8Rg5s78iD
Their line was centered by defensive-minded regular Noah Cates, and at face value, he doesn't come off as the ideal center to activate two highly-skilled offensive minds, but his place in between them isn't exactly an unfounded idea either if you take a quick stroll through hockey history – specifically, to the late 90s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Back then, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya were offensive dynamos who were lighting the league on fire from a non-traditional hockey market. And they were fully let loose to go and score with every shift, because in between them, Steve Rucchin was at center and covering all of the defensive responsibilities so that Kariya and Selanne could go and score – and years later, both Selanne and Kariya acknowledged, joked, but ultimately gave respect to Rucchin for it as the two original Mighty Ducks stars made their way into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Is that saying Michkov, Martone, and Cates are the Flyers' modern-day version of Kariya, Selanne, and Rucchin? No, that was a special line combo, and Michkov and Martone are both a long way away from any kind of Hall of Fame conversation.
And it's not saying that this kind of line setup is a long-term solution for them either. The Flyers still very much need an elite star down the middle sometime soon.
But this is saying that this kind of line construction can work, where two talented wingers are set free to go and create, while the centerman takes up the defensive responsibility for them. Michkov even joked on his way out after last season that his plus/minus rating dramatically improved once he got paired up on a line with Cates, and right now, Michkov is skating around as the Flyers' leading scorer, with some chemistry with Martone looking like it's getting tapped into.
History doesn't repeat – not exactly, that is – but it can rhyme.
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